Tag Archives: attraction: Great Movie Ride

In today’s video, I’m going to tell some of my favorite stories from my time at the Great Movie Ride! I miss the ride so much; it was my favorite ride as a guest and my dream job as a cast member. I am extremely lucky that I got to be a part of it, and now I want to share my stories with you!

Fall Dapper Day is somehow always harder to plan for. Dapper Day in the spring naturally lends itself to soft pastels and fluffy petticoats, but picking something in a fall color scheme is harder. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s just me.

I went through multiple options for my Dapper Day attire until I finally settled on Queen Elinor from Brave. I love the character and I hadn’t sewn anything in that rich green color before. I also decided to make it easier on myself by making a skirt and cape instead of a dress.

The skirt was self drafted- if I’m making a dirndl or circle skirt, you can bet I’ve drafted it myself. (Comment below if you want to see tutorials!) I made a basic circle skirt (with pockets) out of a gorgeous green taffeta I had in my stash that had been sitting around for years, waiting for the right project. The zipper came from my stash too, so I ended up not paying anything out of pocket for the skirt! I also pulled out my trusty Malco Modes skirt.

The cape was a little more complicated. I wanted to do something special with it. I bought a super basic New Look pattern for a cape and used the hood pattern piece from McCall’s 5534 (it’s out of print, but if you can find it it’s a super cute hooded bathrobe pattern). I bought a cream and green plaid and a black textured fabric, and made the cape fully reversible. I also made little ears and sewed them to the black hood. Why? So I could turn into a bear, of course! It was lightweight, easy to wear, and added just the right touch to the outfit.

I paired the skirt with a cream colored lace top from Forever 21 and a brown leather belt from…someplace. Walmart, maybe? I’ve had it since college, so who knows. The boots were bought at TJ Maxx after a long, nearly fruitless search. Really, why is it so hard to find plain brown lace up ankle boots without zippers and cuffs on them? But I found them at last and paired them with lace trimmed socks folded over the tops. My hair was straightened and I added a pearl circlet headband from Claire’s.

Dapper Day was actually scheduled to be at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the fall, but beforehand I needed to go to Magic Kingdom to meet Merida (obviously). It was by far one of the best meet and greet experiences I’ve ever had. Merida was very sweet when I came up, and in order to make things easier (I get weirdly awkward and nervous when I meet characters and I have no idea why) I blurted out “Hey, Merida, I’m dressed like your mum and I can turn into a bear.”

She stopped and looked at me in confusion, and I took off my cape and started flipping it inside out. You can actually pinpoint the moment that she realized what was going on.

It was so great. She adjusted my ears for me and we posed like bears, and then she told me to make my best mum face and scold her (but she kept sticking her tongue out at me). It was a great interaction, and as I was about to leave, she stopped me and with the most sincere expression said “you’re beautiful.” I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary walking away. It was a great moment.

After a few more shenanigans at Magic Kingdom, my friend and I moved on to Studios, where clearly photoshoots had to happen, especially in front of Great Movie Ride.

All in all, it was a really successful (and comfortable!) outfit, and one of the best dapper days I’ve experienced.

I fell in love with the Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios when I was fifteen years old and went on my second Disney trip (I hadn’t been since I was five!) Who knew that I would start working there as an adult?

I originally trained at the Great Movie Ride as a participant in the Disney College Program. I was only eighteen years old and it was my first job ever (and my first time away from home). It was a huge undertaking, but I loved it so much. In fact, I loved it so much that when I came back to Disney as a part timer, I immediately signed up to cross train there again (I was originally placed at Star Tours.)

I trained for the second time in March of 2014, and have been there ever since. In the past three year and half years (thereabouts) I’ve done probably thousands of shows as a tour guide, a gangster, and a bandit. And within those thousands of shows, I’ve gotten filmed and photographed probably hundreds of times. Sometimes they even pop up on YouTube. It’s a little weird, but kind of cool at the same time!

This is my original tour guide show, before the Turner Classic Movies update. I’ve got to say I miss it! It was a LOT of script to memorize, but I did really love it.

Here’s my tour guide show again, this time after the Turner Classic Movies update. (I also just have to say that it’s always so strange to hear my voice over the vehicle mic! I’ve been compared to Minnie Mouse and Snow White before. And one time a kid just asked “do they pay you to sound like that?” Thanks, kid.)

This is the first video I found of my gangster show! I was gangster trained about a year after returning to the Great Movie Ride. It really was a dream come true- but let’s be honest, it’s super tiring. That’s what happens with you run up and down stairs in heels while firing a gun (and you repeat it every eight to nine minutes).

I trained in bandit about a year and a half after gangster, and it’s SO much fun. The stage show is terrifyingly quick, but still- a lot of fun.

Here’s another take of my bandit show! (Also you can hear me hollering at people. It sucks, but when people don’t sit down or take flash photos, you have to call them out!)

I absolutely love working at the Great Movie Ride (as you can probably tell). I think I have some more videos of my gangster show somewhere, and in a box somewhere I definitely have a video of my very first tour guide show when I was a teenager!

Do you have any questions about the Great Movie Ride or about a job at Disney? Leave your comments below, and I’ll answer them in an upcoming post or a video!

‘Twas the night before Christmas,
And in Western Town
#thelittlestbandit was running around
Her stocking was hung by the chimney with care
Though she knew full well there would be nothing there
For Kate was a bandit, she’d been naughty all year,
And all she would get would be coal, no good cheer
But you can hear her exclaim, as you run out of sight
“Merry Christmas, y’all, watch out for dynamite!” (at The Great Movie Ride)

the last time I got show observed my trainer told me to be careful because on shots 2 and 4 I was throwing them

so now I perpetually have Hamilton stuck in my head because I’ll be running up and down the stairs in my heels a million times a day, firing my pistol and singing “I am not throwing away my shot” to myself

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About Me

I’m Caitlin, and I’m finally coming through the other side of my quarter-life crisis. I live in Florida with my spoiled little cats, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IV and Astrid Cagney Hofferson. I had the privilege of working at the Great Movie Ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios for four years and was part of the closing team, so you might have seen me as a tour guide, Mugsi Toccata, or Kate Durango. I’m now currently a guide at Kilimanjaro Safaris. When I’m not driving around in circles pointing at four different kinds of antelopes, I’m often found performing in local theatrical productions. or spending time with my giant boyfriend. Favorite things include the smell of dryer sheets, marathons of canceled TV shows, and rainy days (as long as I’m indoors at home).